National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum

All About Cowboys...

Cowboy Take Me Away (Dixie Chicks)

From fine art, pop culture, and firearms to Native American objects, historical cowboy gear, shopping, and dining, theNational Cowboy Museum in Oklahoma City tells America’s story as it unfolds across the West...

Running now thru May 14th is the "Power and Prestige Children's Gallery". We learned about Native American pictographs, and even had a chance to make our own stories on buffalo hide ... aka brown construction paper. The kids really enjoyed being creative with their tales. The staff also told us stories, had musical instruments to try, and we made a beaded necklace similar to Native American jewelry of years ago.

One of our favorite parts of the museum was the Children's Cowboy Corral. It is in its own building, and allows the kids to freely touch , play, and explore history! They can choose their chaps and western wear and then keep them on while playing. There is a quiet spot for reading, giant puzzles, and more. We really enjoyed the imaginary play campfire and riding the horses... eh, logs... I truly felt back in the saddle again!!

The weather was almost perfect, dare I say HOT for February, when we visited. There are gardens and statues to take in, and I had to literally carry my toddler away from the coy pond. The laminated floor puzzles of the artwork was a fun way to get the kids interested!

The kids really liked all of the statues and sculptures in the museum. We have learned about Abraham Lincoln in social studies, so it was really special to see him there.

Prosperity Junction is an old Western town replica that you can explore in depth ... Unfortunately it happened to be closed on the day of our visit. we WILL be going back to see it another day.

Inside of this tiny theater you can watch a superb documentary about the history of western movies. It is narrated by Sam Elliott, so that doesn't hurt either.

As a child, one of my favorite parts of a museum was always the realistic scenes. This proves to be true for the next generation as well. We spent a lot of time studying the details of each display.Cowboys Unit StudyLiterature